Guild Wars 2

My necro is lvl 39 in fractal and almost complete with dungeon master. My ranger is probably going to hit 80 tonight. I want to main one for pve. So my question is if you had a group which would you rather have in it? I know neither class is the optimal choice but they are the ones I enjoy most. It seems to me ranger brings a lot more to the table for team play. What’s your opinions?

Necro by a long shot. I’ve never had a positive experience playing alongside rangers.

Even with spotter frost spirit healing spring and war horn boons?

If you can run that, that’d be great. You will be a far greater asset to any team than a necro can hope to be, although there are always the bigoted pugs that kick all rangers. :)

For your reference, the absolute highest maximum DPS party composition is a warrior, a ranger and 3 elementalists.

Stubie.5834:

Even with spotter frost spirit healing spring and war horn boons?

If you are meleeing with sword/horn and indeed using spotter and FS, ranger hands down.

As long as you’re not Bearbowing, Ranger > Necro.

What do you want to do?

Do you want to farm metaevents, get lots of loot and gold?

Necro

Do you want to do dungeons/raids?

Ranger, but preferably neither.

Do you want to be the class that everyone loves that can do anything and everything, except suck?

Guardian.

Poor necros are useless in PvE.

Their mainhand dagger autoattack does less damage than warrior axe mainhand, and it doesn’t even cleave. And they offer no group boons, while boons like weakness are mostly useless against bosses whereas boons work against boss attacks.

I’m more of an axe/warhorn and short bow ranger but I do run those and stay in range to get and receive group buffs. Thanks for the input.

I love both personally. I have two lvl 80 necros and my Ranger has Kudzu….. Just depends on your playstyle.

And in no way would I ever bring bearbow to a dungeon or fractal run that is pure madness!

This thread is honestly academic at best. Both are perfectly fine. All you necro nay-sayers check this out:

Stubie.5834:

And in no way would I ever bring bearbow to a dungeon or fractal run that is pure madness!

I only do it if the party (always friends or guildmates) is being stupid….and I bearbow to just be annoying. I can’t stand playing that way!

Hmm… my ranger is my first character and just hit 80 today. I know bearbow is the hallmark of a n00b (and yeah, I leveled halfway as a bearbow). I’m now playing with axes and a lynx in a skirmishing / beast mastery build around bleeds / precision / condition damage, but I know I need a whole new approach if I am going to do any dungeons or fractals.

Any recommendations about what the best build for a new player would be in order to be useful instead of a rangetard in dungeons?

DavidH.7380:

Hmm… my ranger is my first character and just hit 80 today. I know bearbow is the hallmark of a n00b (and yeah, I leveled halfway as a bearbow). I’m now playing with axes and a lynx in a skirmishing / beast mastery build around bleeds / precision / condition damage, but I know I need a whole new approach if I am going to do any dungeons or fractals.

Any recommendations about what the best build for a new player would be in order to be useful instead of a rangetard in dungeons?

Pick up a sword or GS and learn to melee with it.

Sarision.6347:

Pick up a sword or GS and learn to melee with it.

What would you recommend for a dungeon offhand with a sword?

DavidH.7380:

Hmm… my ranger is my first character and just hit 80 today. I know bearbow is the hallmark of a n00b (and yeah, I leveled halfway as a bearbow). I’m now playing with axes and a lynx in a skirmishing / beast mastery build around bleeds / precision / condition damage, but I know I need a whole new approach if I am going to do any dungeons or fractals.

Any recommendations about what the best build for a new player would be in order to be useful instead of a rangetard in dungeons?

Try this guide

Tarug.7369:

Try this guide

Just gave that a quick scan. It looks promising, but perhaps even more importantly it teaches weapons and abilities I’m not familiar with yet, so even if it doesn’t end up being the final answer it would teach me a lot of good stuff about my profession.

I’m very confident that build will be your final answer.

I must be doing things completely wrong.

I have a wells focused necro that I use in PvE with staff/scepter/dagger combo and I find her to be not only fun but great at killing things. Only critter I use is the flesh golem, and he’s nice and tough.

Xenon.4537:

This thread is honestly academic at best. Both are perfectly fine. All you necro nay-sayers check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8CrDa2oNA

And now what?

ps: Just for fun
http://youtu.be/PWQ-39_C8LI

I like playing alongside rangers in PvE because they have good survivability and provide alot of power based bonuses to you and themselves. As long as they dont use !%@$#ing point-blank shot on something you just CCed or put AoE onto.

They’re both much the same in the end. (team play will likely have a guard to bring support, so don’t choose because of that.).
Necro’s can be great for blinds/constant weakness.

So choose the class you like best and learn it well.

PuG’s will eaither not care, or hate both, so it really doesn’t matter. (and there will be changes to these builds now in future updates, so just play what you like.)

Anything the Ranger does, Necromancers do better.
Seriously, Rangers are built around that mess of a pet and Necros are so, so much more effective with minions.

Ranger for dungeons. Both are ok’ish in fractals.

Dalanor.5387:

Xenon.4537:

This thread is honestly academic at best. Both are perfectly fine. All you necro nay-sayers check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w8CrDa2oNA

And now what?

ps: Just for fun
http://youtu.be/PWQ-39_C8LI

I just wanted to point out that the discussion of which classes and group comp is the “fastest” is academic. Whether it’s warriors, ranger,s necros, etc, they can all do things fast if done right. You might save 10 seconds or so as a warrior, but who cares.

Ranger is awesome as long he is not ranged ;P

Solo pve or group?

People don’t like grouping with rangers but I’ve solo’ed more [group] content with my ranger than any other class. A well built beast master ranger though can solo almost anything in pve.

Neither.

You’re talking about the two very worst PvE classes in the game. Still, if you enjoy them I suppose you should just stick with the one you enjoy the most because there really is no point in splitting hairs here.

Stubie.5834:

I’m more of an axe/warhorn and short bow ranger but I do run those and stay in range to get and receive group buffs. Thanks for the input.

If you’re committing already to stay in melee range, you should really go Sword/WH for your main set.

If you are having issues regarding sword root & dodging this video will definitely help:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUwHpIxY52U

If you have to max melee range for an encounter you can switch to a Greatsword.

If you want to provide more unique buffs and a higher overall group damage go with ranger , a necro does ok single target damage but the lack of cleaving attack and long cooldowns on aoe’s make it less desirable for content where you have to kill trash mobs, but if its for tagging events necro will be better.

You can go ranger… if you want to be instant-kicked every dungeon/fotm run

I have a level 80 necro and a level 60 ranger. If you’re planning on doing group dungeons I’d go with necro. Rangers in my experience can be problematic in dungeons unless they keep a good leash on what their pet is doing and necro’s do actually have quite a lot of support if you want to go that route. Although if you do prefer the ranger don’t drop them because of the rep. There are good ranger players in dungeons and they are good for open world and solo pve.

I think both classes are workable as long as you are mindful of other players and can deal with hateful elitists well. Ranger is a great class. I do recommend gathering all of the pets so you have a good selection. From there make sure you are using the right pet for the right job. If need be, you can always put it on peaceful until you need it. Also, using the knockback skill with longbow is better is you’re soloing or if you have agro and are about to die with your heal on cooldown. The key is to be mindful of your environment and your actions. It’s not a easy class for people who don’t pay attention and that is why people whine about it.

So many threads about necros and rangers in pve nowadays lol. funny my first two chars are precisely necro and ranger… maybe i should start lfg with them in dungeons and see how deep this unpleasant rabbit hole goes…

Stubie.5834:

I’m more of an axe/warhorn and short bow ranger but I do run those and stay in range to get and receive group buffs. Thanks for the input.

Stubie.5834:

And in no way would I ever bring bearbow to a dungeon or fractal run that is pure madness!

Condi build isn’t much better than bearbow …

Ranger

• use sword mainhand
• use warhorn and axe offhand
• unlock the aa chain so you can move away if you have to
• use also axe (with warhorn) if you require range with “cleave” or when you still are learning how to melee
• use bows ONLY if you have no other choice but to go ranged
• use GS only if you don’t need the horn (ele, guard, engi do the buffs)
• use dagger instead of axe against bosses
• use cats as pets
• drakes are allowed too
• spiders for ranged
• don’t use dogs (pvp), birds (speedbuff lowers dps enormous) or anything else, especially not bears!
• summon a frost spirit at a safe spot, don’t trait it to follow you
• use spotter
• disable pet’s auto attack, do not annoy your allies with the pet

Ranger deals great damage, but only with the sword. The warhorn buffs + single target dps, the axe has an insanely good pull with too much dmg and a good vuln. stack opener. The bows deal low daamge but are ok if really required. The axe deals good damage for a ranged weapon against 2+ targets, still the sword is stronger! The GS hits extremly low for its basics compared to the sword. The other skills aren’t as good as an axe / warhorn offhand either.

Necro

• DO NOT GO FOR CONDITION DAMAGE!!!
• no minion master either
• dagger / axe mainhand for single target dps
• focus / horn / dagger offhand
• mainly dagger + horn and axe + support weapon
• lich form deals less damage than DS, use golem
• trait for DS and penetration, you NEED an “auto attack” (DS) that deals aoe
• DO NOT ANNOY your allies with worthless combo fields!
• use wells only if required
• pay attention to when the ele/engi recently buffed, put down your wells AFTER that

Necro is surely not the best class in PvE. All he grant’s to the party is damage and weak condi cleanse / blinds. He deals ok damage and if Zerker he is not a “omg kick him! – choice”. A smart Necro is still better than a brain afk other member. If you want to play him for fun, do it! But if you want to be very useful for your team, go for another class or wait for buffs

A few other thing to above.

Ranger.
GS 3 and 4 is great for skipping. Dagger off-hand is nice to have beside a warhorn, it has an extra evade and warhorn skills have high cooldown anyway.

Necro.
Dagger / warhorn + focus is good enough for full melee setup. You can cast focus#4 twice before you need to swap back for warhorn#5.
You will suck at skipping, no mobility skills, except DS#2, but it will put you in combat.

Xyonon.3987:

Ranger

• use sword mainhand
• use warhorn and axe offhand
• unlock the aa chain so you can move away if you have to
• use also axe (with warhorn) if you require range with “cleave” or when you still are learning how to melee
• use bows ONLY if you have no other choice but to go ranged
• use GS only if you don’t need the horn (ele, guard, engi do the buffs)
• use dagger instead of axe against bosses
• use cats as pets
• drakes are allowed too
• spiders for ranged
• don’t use dogs (pvp), birds (speedbuff lowers dps enormous) or anything else, especially not bears!
• summon a frost spirit at a safe spot, don’t trait it to follow you
• use spotter
• disable pet’s auto attack, do not annoy your allies with the pet

Ranger deals great damage, but only with the sword. The warhorn buffs + single target dps, the axe has an insanely good pull with too much dmg and a good vuln. stack opener. The bows deal low daamge but are ok if really required. The axe deals good damage for a ranged weapon against 2+ targets, still the sword is stronger! The GS hits extremly low for its basics compared to the sword. The other skills aren’t as good as an axe / warhorn offhand either.

---

Necro

• DO NOT GO FOR CONDITION DAMAGE!!!
• no minion master either
• dagger / axe mainhand for single target dps
• focus / horn / dagger offhand
• mainly dagger + horn and axe + support weapon
• lich form deals less damage than DS, use golem
• trait for DS and penetration, you NEED an “auto attack” (DS) that deals aoe
• DO NOT ANNOY your allies with worthless combo fields!
• use wells only if required
• pay attention to when the ele/engi recently buffed, put down your wells AFTER that

Necro is surely not the best class in PvE. All he grant’s to the party is damage and weak condi cleanse / blinds. He deals ok damage and if Zerker he is not a “omg kick him! – choice”. A smart Necro is still better than a brain afk other member. If you want to play him for fun, do it! But if you want to be very useful for your team, go for another class or wait for buffs

Or he can be open-minded and play to the best of his ability whichever Profession of them both is more fun to him. Much of your post has that min/max efficiency tone to it, and not all players have that mentality in this game, nor are they worse than you are for it.

Both are good, play what you enjoy the most, OP.

To the player who said “anything that the Ranger can do, Necromancer can do better”-you are clearly enjoying Necromancer and want to offer it as a valid option, which it is, but no other Profession in the game can offer what a Ranger can (too bad they can be pigeon-holed into that build for the same reason, though.)

AS the majority said, go with whatever you find fun or what one you and your friends think is the best benefit to the party.

I never got kicked from a party on my ranger and if I did, easy enough to find another group that is friendly and doesn’t get kittened if you are 5 seconds behind schedule.

@Star Ace:

Stubie.5834:

What’s your opinions?

And my opinion is efficiency. I have fun while beeing impactful for my team. I said play Necro if you want but he’s often just not as good as any other class. A good Necro is ok, wouldn’t kick him for no reason. But he should keep in mind that he will never be as important as any other class up to the time when they get some serious PvE buffs!

Play what you enjoy, and play what you are best at when it comes to dungeons (if you want to run those).

I’d rather be in a dungeon with a Necro playing to the best of his/her ability and having a good time, than with someone who simply chose a Ranger because on paper they’re more useful but they don’t really know what they’re doing. And vice versa.

I main a Necro, and I have a Ranger. Personally, I feel more solid atm in dungeons with my Necro over my Ranger because of the time I have spent on my Necro. I have a great guild who don’t care what builds you are running or how long a dungeon takes, but I’ve never felt like I couldn’t contribute meaningfully to a run on my Necro. I do on my Ranger but only because I haven’t yet got to that stage where I truly understand everything that profession is capable of.

In terms of just open-world exploration, Ranger has more mobility than Necro, but I find Necro mobility just fine. Ranger is, I think easier, though both are fairly straightforward. I play a melee Ranger, which offers far more active and “present” gameplay than a Ranger using Longbow, and I also usually melee Necro too, for the same reason (though chucking marks about with my staff is also AWESOME). So you might want to factor that in as well. If you do, bear in mind that Necro has no cleave, which can be a hindrance at times, and Ranger (who has most DPS with mainhand sword) gets rooted in place when using skill 1 on sword, which can be a pain for dodging and general strafing.

Star Ace.5207:

Much of your post has that min/max efficiency tone to it, and not all players have that mentality in this game, nor are they worse than you are for it.

As a person/individual, ofc they are not worse. But in terms of potential, use, efficiency and speed, they are indeed “worse” if using certain, non meta, builds/set ups.

What is “spotter”? It’s not a skill.

danbuter.2314:

What is “spotter”? It’s not a skill.

Ranger Master trait which gives +150 Precision to up to 5 nearby allies, including the Ranger.

danbuter.2314:

What is “spotter”? It’s not a skill.

It is a trait : http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Spotter